Among patients with chronic medical diseases, patients with exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are among those with the poorest prognosis despite advances in medical therapy. This project explores the use of continuous monitoring of vital signs for early detection of critical deteriorations in patients with exacerbation of COPD.
Background
WHO estimate 3.1 million deaths annually worldwide to be caused by COPD, making the diagnosis the fourth most common cause of death [1]. Despite relevant treatment, the condition of patients admitted to hospital with exacerbation of COPD may suddenly deteriorate. Adverse trends in routine observations can be overlooked, misinterpreted or not appreciated as urgent. New wearable 24/7 clinical monitoring systems may identify clinical deterioration before patients progress beyond the point-of-no-return, where serious adverse events are inevitable [2].
Project objectives
With this project, we seek to investigate whether adverse vital parameter micro events can be detected in patients admitted with acute exacerbation of COPD that would remain undetected with standard monitoring. We will also explore if the system is applicable in an out-of-hospital setting with continuous monitoring in the days following discharge from hospital. We aim to develop a management and stratification algorithm to use for prevention of serious adverse events in COPD patients.
References
[1] “WHO | The top 10 causes of death,” WHO, 2017. [Online]. Available: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs310/en/. [Accessed: 22-Sep-2017].
[2] C. Haahr-Raunkjær, C. S. Meyhoff, H. B. D. Sørensen, R. M. Olsen, and E. K. Aasvang, “Technological aided assessment of the acutely ill patient - The case of postoperative complications.,” Eur. J. Intern. Med., vol. 45, pp. 41–45, Nov. 2017.